Text: Levitics 23:39-43
"39 Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh
month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a
feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and
on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
40 And ye shall take you on the first day
the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick
trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your
God seven days.
41 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the
LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations:
ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
42 Ye shall dwell in booths seven days;
all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: 43 That your generations
may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I
brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God."
Today, I'd like to preach a message entitled "The Feast Of Tabernacles." What is the meaning of "The Feast Of Tabernacles." Related to the end days of the church age, there are many hidden messages in "The Feast Of Tabernacles." So, let's take a look at them.
Deutoronomy 16:16
" Three times in a year shall all thy males
appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the
feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast
of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty"
In Israel there are three major feasts. They include the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks and the feast of tabernacles. These three feasts are encrypted predictions referring to three major events to be held at the beginning of the end of the world. The feast of unleavened bread predicts the death of God's lamb, Jesus Christ. The feast of weeks predicts Pentecost which happened seven weeks later. The feast of tabernacles is the feast of the harvest. It predicts the large harvest (revival) to come at the end of the world.
Exodus 23 :16 "And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field."
Within these three feasts, there is a common flow of meaning. That is to say, the feast of unleavened bread symbolizes the death of a seed, Jesus Christ. The feast of weeks is the feast of firstfruits. Those who received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost were really "the firstfruits." The word "firstfruits" makes us think about a much larger harvest to follow. In the last days there is the feast of tabernacle, which is a feast to celebrate a large harvest. Now, the two events predicted by these two feasts have already been finished. Only "the feast of tabernacles" remains.
The feast of tabernacles is the feast which prophecies concerning the end time. Many end time prophecies of the Bible are hidden in parables and mysteries. Therefore, we can imagine that a parable is used within this feast. There is something God is telling us about the end time though this feast. But, we can not understand what he is trying to tell us if we have no intention to understand parables.
What is special about the feast of tabernacles is that all the participants of this feast are required to live in a tabernacle or tent or booth for seven days straight. Why must they live in tabernacles to celebrate the harvest? Would there have been a problem if they had celebrated it in their houses? It's very difficult to understand the meaning of this. Let's seek out its meaning.
Many scriptures point to a large revival and a great tribulation in the end time. For example, Pharaoh's dream about seven years of plenty and seven years of famine, which is interpreted by Joseph talks about this. These dreams refer to the end time revival and the great tribulation after it.
Deutoronomy 16:13
"Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles
seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine: "
The words "seven days" are used many times in the text. This seems to be representative of the seven year tribulation. Seven days seem to be the figure of seven years. By the way, what is this seven years? Is this the figure of seven years revival or seven years tribulation? To which period does it correspond? In the text, it is written "seven days, after that thou hast gathered in." There we see the harvest already finished, so that means the revival has already finished. So it represents the seven year tribulation period.
By the way, this feast is called one of the three major feasts of Israel. But, there are very few descriptions in the Bible where the Israelites had actually celebrated this feast. But, we can see an exceptional example in the book of Nehemiah.
The book of Nehemiah talks about Israelites who go out from Babylon and return back to Jerusalem to rebuild this city. I suppose this story is talking about the people who go out from the babylonized church and restore the true church in the end time. This is the tribulation period when God's people go out from the babylonized church. With this meaning in mind we can say this feast relates to the tribulation period. Let's look at the scriptures of Nehemiah.
Nehemiah 8:13-17
"13 And on the second day were gathered together
the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levities,
unto Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law.
14 And they found written in the law which
the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell
in booths in the feast of the seventh month:
15 And that they should publish and proclaim
in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount,
and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm
branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.
16 So the people went forth, and brought
them, and made themselves booths, every one upon the roof of his house,
and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the
street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.
17 And all the congregation of them that
were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths:
for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children
of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness."
If these descriptions are talking about the tribulation time, what might God be saying to us through the imagery of "live in tabernacles"?" Let's look at the typology hidden in these descriptions. It says, "olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees." The commandment is to make booths using these branches. What do these trees typify? The descriptions below will attempt to explain them. But, first of all, we should understand that these trees are types of God's people.
Olive Trees
Romans11:24
" For if thou wert cut out of the olive
tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into
a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches,
be grafted into their own olive tree?"
Olives typify how that God's people come from Israelites and Gentiles.
Myrtle Trees
Isaiah 55:13
"Instead of the thorn shall come up the
fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it
shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not
be cut off."
Palm Trees
Psalms 92:12
" The righteous shall flourish like the
palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon."
The Psalm explains the palm tree as the righteous.
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With these branches, they will build tabernacles. Please pay attention to the place where these tabernacles are located. The text says, "roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim." What should we think about these places? There is one common character among them. That is to say, all of them are not on the inside, but the outside. For instance, they are outside of houses, the temple and the gates.
Let's recall the descriptions of the end time in the new testament. In them, you can find descriptions which correspond to the scriptures of Nehemiah.
Roof Of His House, And In Their Courts
Matthew 24:17
"Let him which is on the housetop not come
down to take any thing out of his house:"
The Courts Of The House Of God
2 Thessalonians 2:4
" Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all
that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in
the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."
In The Street Of The Water Gate, And In The Street Of The Gate Of
Ephraim
Luke 21:21
" Then let them which are in Judaea flee
to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out;
and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
The description in Matthew chapter 24 "Let him which is on the housetop not come down" is incomprehensible for our common sense. It is a very rare expression through out the whole Bible. It is true that the tribulation is a special time. But, this time continues for 7 years, and even the great tribulation continues 3 and half years. Is it possible for us to stay on the housetop for so many long years and not to come down from there? So, it will be reasonable for us to conclude that this passage is parabolic. If it is, what might it represent? It is difficult to interpret.
But, in the book of Nehemiah, we can find a very similar expression to this; Nehemiah has a description about building a tabernacle on the roof of a house and living in it seven days.
Please pay attention to this word "roof of a house." It seems like these descriptions are somewhat different. It says "roof of a house" in Nehemiah and "housetop" in Matthew. But, the same Greek word is used in both verses (Septuagint).
If the very same word is used there in those texts, we might imagine that these two verses have a connection to one another.
Please see the verse in Matthew. It reads, "him which is on the housetop." This verse suddenly appeared in this chapter. He is now on the housetop. But, why did he climb onto the housetop? There should be some good situation or reason. But nothing is described about it; it's as though just the latter half of one sentence is separated and placed here. I think the former half of this sentence is mentioned in the scripture of "the feast of tabernacles." That is to say, it is about the people who live in the tabernacles on the roofs of the houses. In it they are told not to come down from the roof of the house and not to enter the house.
Let's think about this matter. If we have to hold down on the roof for 7 days, it will be difficult for us not to enter the house even just once. To prepare a meal, we have to go to the kitchen. We would also need to go to the bath room. Therefore, if we read this verse literally, this description would sound like nonsense. But, actually, this is a parable. House indicates church. So, this verse warns us not to enter the church during the seven years' tribulation.
God intentionally wrote the description of the "roof of house" like this to make us understand that these two descriptions were related to each other.
In the new testament, it tells us not to enter the house or city.
And a description is given that says that the anti Christ has a seat within God's temple. House, city, Jerusalem are all types of the church. Therefore, to make booths outside of the house, God's house or city gate means coming out from the babylonized church in the end time. And it also commanded to not only come out of there, but to make a tabernacle.
In book of the Exodus, it is written that God lives in the "tabernacle." There is the presence of God. Therefore, a tabernacle consists of the boughs of goodly trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook. These branches are shadows of God's people. They make up God's people and have a preference of God. We could hardly make a booth with only a branch, but would need many branches. Therefore, it talks about the coming together of some brothers and sisters And it does not talk about an official who builds a house, instead it says a temporary booth. That is to say, it talks about the unofficial meeting of God's people. Therefore, I suppose what is symbolized by "tabernacle" is the underground church. This kind of idea may seem a bit erratic. But, some other scriptures talk about some similar situations.
Psalms 27:5
"For in the time of trouble he shall hide me
in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall
set me up upon a rock."
In this passage, the same word "tabernacle" is used. In the scripture, we see it written as "in the time of trouble, God hid us to tabernacles."
As another example, I'd like us to look at the relationship between Christ and his servants described in the Bible. In the books of the Gospels, it says or suggests regarding the explanation of each feast. For example, it speaks of the feast of the unleavened bread like this in John 13:
John 13:1
"Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus
knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto
the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them
unto the end."
Jesus is the lamb of the feast of the unleavened bread. And the feast of the unleavened was fulfilled when Jesus, the lamb of God, died. His death is suggested from the words "he should depart out of this world unto the Father." So, the explanation of the feast of the unleavened is hidden in this verse.
In short, we understand the hints about the feast of the unleavened written in the new testament. We can also find similar hints about the feast of tabernacles in scripture. Concerning this feast, please see below:
John 7:1-11
"1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee:
for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.
2 Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles was
at hand.
3 His brethren therefore said unto him,
Depart hence, and go into Judaea, that thy disciples also may see the works
that thou doest.
4 For there is no man that doeth any thing
in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these
things, shew thyself to the world.
5 For neither did his brethren believe
in him.
6 Then Jesus said unto them, My time is
not yet come: but your time is alway ready.
7 The world cannot hate you; but me it
hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
8 Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up
yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come.
9 When he had said these words unto them,
he abode still in Galilee.
10 But when his brethren were gone up,
then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
11 Then the Jews sought him at the feast,
and said, Where is he?"
It says, "the Jews sought to kill him" just before the description of the feast of tabernacles, which is not accidentally written here. Instead, this is described here by God to suggest the meaning of "the feast of tabernacles." "God's people," the Jews, sought to kill Jesus. And it happened exactly at the time of the feast of tabernacles. Likewise, we will have a time when we feel the risk of our life under persecution in the near future. This is the tribulation time as predicted by the feast of tabernacles. The text says, "The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth." The time will come when the world will hate and persecute us. This is the time of the feast of tabernacles.
It also says that "he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret." The time will come when we, Christians will have to hide ourselves in secret from the world and its official church. This is the time of the feast of tabernacles. It says, "Then the Jews sought him at the feast." It seems the Jews seek Jesus to persecute God's servant, Jesus. Therefore, in the end time as predicted by the feast of tabernacles, the enemy will seek for true Christians.
In John 16:2, Jesus said " They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." This is the time predicted by the feast of tabernacles. We can find similar descriptions in Revelation.
Revelation 12:13-16
"13 And when the dragon saw that he was
cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man
child.
14 And to the woman were given two wings
of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place,
where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the
face of the serpent.
15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth
water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried
away of the flood.
16 And the earth helped the woman, and
the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon
cast out of his mouth."
The word declares that this woman is nourished in the wilderness. The imagery of this woman might be pointing to the true church.
It said, "to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God" in the text under question. What does this scripture say? In the time of exodus, Israel will dwell in booths (tabernacles). Likewise, true Christians who will go out from this world, but will also dwell in booths. God's true people will live in booths in the end of church age as this feast says.
Let's do the will of Lord in the end time.
end.
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